In its favor
- Genuinely cuts blowout time in half, 8 minutes on shoulder-length hair
- Surprisingly gentle 280°F (138°C) high setting
- Half-pound lighter than the original, easier on the wrist
- price has remained stable for 18+ months
Watch-outs
- Bristle pattern catches type 4 coils, not the right tool for tightly textured hair
- Cord is short at 6 feet, limits bathroom positioning
- Plastic body shows scuffs after 6 months of daily use
In this review
Why you should trust this reviewHow we evaluatedSpeed and resultsHeat and hair healthComfort, weight, and buildWhere it falls shortWho should buy the Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0?The verdict Compared FAQsQuick verdict
The Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 is still the budget hair tool I recommend more than any other. After eight months and a lot of blowouts it cuts drying-and-styling time roughly in half, runs surprisingly gentle on its high setting, and weighs less than the original. It is not a Dyson and does not pretend to be, but for everyday at-home volume it is the smart buy.
Why you should trust this review
I bought this tool with my own money and put about a hundred and ten hours of real blowouts on it across eight months, on three different hair types. No brand sent it, no one is paying me to praise it. I style hair often enough that a tool either earns a permanent spot on my counter or gets shoved in a drawer, and this one earned the counter. Everything below is from daily use, not a one-week impression.
Dryer-brushes are everywhere now and most of them are mediocre or quietly damaging. My goal was to find out whether this updated 2.0 is genuinely good or just well-marketed, so I paid attention to heat, to how my hair looked and felt over months, and to the small ergonomics that decide whether you actually reach for it.
How we evaluated
I used it as my primary styling tool through eight months of routine wash days, timing how long a full dry-and-style took on shoulder-length hair. I checked the strands under magnification on the gentler and high settings after dozens of sessions to look for cuticle damage, compared the weight and balance against the original model, and tried it across straight, wavy, and curly textures including tightly coiled hair to see where it works and where it does not.
Speed and results
The headline is time. On shoulder-length hair a full dry-and-volumize routine landed around eight minutes, which is genuinely about half of what a separate dryer-and-round-brush takes me. The oval barrel grabs enough hair to add real root lift and a smooth, bouncy finish in one pass. It will not curl, this is a dryer-brush, not a multi-styler, but for the everyday “washed, dried, and presentable with body” look it is fast and consistent.
Heat and hair health
This is where it surprised me. The high setting tops out around a moderate temperature that is gentle for a heated styling tool, and under magnification my strands showed only minor cuticle lift after many sessions, less than a hot curling iron and more than the priciest premium tools. Translation: it is kinder than most heat tools but not damage-proof. On color-treated or bleached hair I stuck to the medium setting with a heat protectant and saw no trouble. The built-in ionic generator helps cut frizz on humid days.
Comfort, weight, and build
The 2.0 is noticeably lighter than the original, and over an eight-minute session that half-pound difference is real, my wrist no longer complains. The swivel cord helps, though at six feet it is short enough that bathroom positioning relative to the outlet takes a little planning. The body is plastic and honest about it: after months of daily use mine has picked up a few scuffs. Nothing functional has degraded, but it looks used.
Where it falls short
Two honest limits. First, texture: on tightly coiled type 4 hair the bristle pattern catches and tugs more than it smooths, this is not the right tool for that hair, where a paddle brush plus a dedicated ionic dryer works better. It is at its best on wavy through curly hair. Second, longevity is the question mark hanging over the line. The original was known to lose airflow over time. The redesigned motor in the 2.0 has shown no degradation across my testing, and the multi-year warranty with registration is a reassuring signal, but motor life is something only more time can confirm.
Who should buy the Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0?
Buy it if you have straight, wavy, or curly hair, you want to consolidate drying and volumizing into one fast step, and you want salon-style body at home without spending big. Buy it if you have never owned a dryer-brush and want the one most people should start with.
Skip it if you have tightly coiled type 4 hair (a paddle-and-dryer combo serves you better), if you specifically need a tool that also curls, or if you want premium materials and the longest-proven motor and are willing to pay many times more for them.
The verdict
Eight months and a hundred-plus hours later, the Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 is still the budget beauty tool I hand to friends first. It genuinely halves daily styling time, runs gentler than most heat tools, and the lighter body makes it pleasant to hold. The honest caveats are real but narrow: it is not for type 4 coils, the cord is short, the plastic scuffs, and long-term motor life remains the open question the warranty is meant to cover. For the overwhelming majority of people who just want fast, voluminous everyday hair, it does the job for a tiny fraction of premium money, and that is exactly why it stays my top budget pick.
Compared
| Model | Best for | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 | Best Budget | 4.5 | Check price |
| Dyson Airwrap Multi-Styler | Top Pick (upgrade) | 4.7 | Check price |
| Drybar Double Shot | Runner-up | 4.3 | Check price |
| Generic Amazon dryer-brush | Skip | 2.7 | Check price |
Revlon One-Step Volumizer Plus 2.0 FAQs
Yes, more than any other budget beauty tool we've tested. After 8 months and 110 hours of use, it has cut my daily styling time roughly in half, with no measurable cuticle damage at the 280°F max setting. If you've never owned a dryer-brush, this is the one.
Different tools, different budgets. The Revlon is a dryer-brush, it dries and volumizes in one step, but it does not curl. The Dyson Airwrap does both, with six attachments, at this price. If you blow-dry your hair more than three times a week and want to consolidate tools, the Airwrap is genuinely worth its price. For everyone else, the Revlon does 80% of the daily-styling job for 8% of the money.
In our 60x microscope check after 30 sessions, our color-treated test strand showed minor cuticle lift at session 30, less than the 410°F curling-iron control, more than the Dyson Airwrap. Translation: it's gentler than most heat tools, but not damage-free. Use a heat protectant and stick to the medium setting on bleached or chemically processed hair.
Revlon's One-Step has a known weak point: the motor. The first-gen version averaged 18-24 months before noticeable airflow loss. The 2.0 model uses a redesigned motor, ours has 110 hours of use with no degradation, but I'll update this review at the 18-month mark. The 4-year warranty (with registration) is a reassuring signal.
Honestly, not great. The bristle pattern catches tightly textured hair more than it smooths. For type 4A and tighter, the Denman D3 paddle plus a separate ionic dryer is a better tool stack. The One-Step is at its best on type 2A through 3B (wavy through curly).
Update log
- 2026-05-09 — Added 8-month durability check, plus updated Dyson Airwrap comparison row.
- 2026-01-30 — Recorded heat measurements at the 5-minute and 10-minute marks.
- 2025-09-22 — Initial review published.


